VZCZCXRO3399
PP RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHLN RUEHMA RUEHNH RUEHPB
DE RUEHPF #1088/01 1601036
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 091036Z JUN 06
FM AMEMBASSY PHNOM PENH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6835
INFO RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHZN/ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 1474

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PHNOM PENH 001088 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS, OES/PCI AND OES/ETC 
STATE PLEASE PASS TO USAID FOR ANE/SPOTS--MARY MELNYK AND 
JOHN WILSON, ANE/ESA--DEIDRE WINSTON AND DEBORAH 
KENNEDY-IRAHETA 
GENEVA FOR RMA 
BANGKOK FOR REO--JIM WALLER AND DAN KIEFER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV PGOV PHUM ECON CB VN CN
SUBJECT: CAMBODIA:  ENVIRONMENTAL LEADERS HIGHLIGHT TOP 
CONCERNS 
 
¶1.  (SBU)  SUMMARY:  Environmental leaders cited land 
degradation and encroachment on protected areas as Cambodia's 
most pressing environmental concerns during a June 7 
roundtable discussion.  Wildlife traffickers seem to operate 
in small, decentralized networks with Vietnam as either a 
destination or a transit point en route to China.  Efforts to 
improve environmental protection are thwarted by government 
inefficiency, lack of political will, and corruption.  While 
often overshadowed by arguably more pressing issues like rule 
of law and poverty alleviation, in fact weaknesses in all 
three areas are mutually reinforcing and the issues must be 
addressed simultaneously if progress is to be made.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  (U) Poleconoff hosted an environmental roundtable 
discussion and reception on June 7 to introduce the new USAID 
Economic Development and Environment Officer.  Ten 
environmental leaders, representing seven local and 
international NGOs, attended the event and presented a 
snapshot of the environmental conditions in Cambodia. 
 
Land Degradation and Forest Encroachment Most Alarming 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
¶3.  (U)  Nearly everyone present cited land degradation and 
the encroachment of formally protected and/or environmentally 
sensitive areas as the top environmental concern in Cambodia. 
 Edward Pollard of the Wildlife Conservation Society 
described two distinct patterns of encroachment:  small-scale 
encroachment due to migration from the more heavily populated 
lowlands to less densely populated, environmentally sensitive 
areas, and large-scale destruction associated with land 
concessions, commercial agricultural plantations, and illegal 
logging. 
 
¶4.  (SBU)  Land degradation and poverty are closely tied, 
activists noted.  Sam Inn of the Lutheran World Federation 
noted that the poor often turn to environmentally-destructive 
practices like collecting fuel wood and producing charcoal to 
raise their incomes.  At the same time, land degradation 
often serves to destabilize already vulnerable people.  Mark 
Poffenberger of Community Forestry International said that as 
forests are destroyed, rural communities dependent on forests 
for fuel, timber and medicine must spend scarce cash for 
these items, leading to poverty and haphazard migration to 
cities.  Poor and migrant Cambodians are susceptible to human 
trafficking and vulnerable to a host of ills which, like HIV 
infection, are more prevalent in urban areas, he asserted. 
Cambodia can't effectively stem these problems until its 
ecosystems are stabilized, he noted.  Finally, indigenous and 
poor communities are often politically disenfranchised and 
easily manipulated.  Suwanna Gauntlett, Wild Aid Country 
Director, noted that the poor are often used as fronts by 
rich and powerful Cambodians to stake claims on 
environmentally sensitive areas. 
 
Wildlife Trafficking Decentralized but Lucrative 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶5.  (SBU)  Activists reported that most wildlife captured in 
Cambodia is exported to Vietnam, either as a final 
destination or en route to China.  There are no indications 
that Cambodian wildlife smugglers are also involved in 
trafficking people, narcotics, or weapons, although 
environmental leaders suspect that many wildlife smugglers 
are also involved in smuggling consumer goods like gasoline 
from Vietnam to Cambodia.  These smugglers likely use the 
same network of corrupt customs agents to facilitate 
smuggling of both wildlife and more traditional consumer 
goods.  Wildlife smuggling in Cambodia seems to be fairly 
disorganized and to operate in small networks, environmental 
leaders noted. 
 
¶6.  (U)  While trafficking in reptiles is perhaps most 
common, several NGO leaders reported a dramatic increase in 
the trafficking of macaques over the past several months. 
Gauntlett reported that Wild Aid's wildlife rescue team has 
confiscated 34,000 animals of various types over the past 
four years, and is currently uncovering 100-200 smuggled 
macaques each week.  Macaques typically travel in groups of 
8-10 individuals, and are worth about USD 80 each locally, 
making them a lucrative target.  Gauntlett relayed an 
 
PHNOM PENH 00001088  002 OF 002 
 
 
incident in which one smuggler, stopped by robbers near the 
Vietnam border, gladly agreed to give up his motorcycle as 
long as he was allowed to keep his backpack, which contained 
five macaques.  Pollard noted that smuggling of macaques and 
other primates leads to deforestation, as it is common for 
smugglers to clear 100 meters of forest from the area 
surrounding a tree with a valuable primate so that the 
primate cannot jump to another tree to escape. 
 
Poor Government Performance Impedes Environmental Efforts 
--------------------------------------------- ------------ 
 
¶7.  (SBU)  Environmental protection efforts are often 
hampered by government inefficiency, lack of political will, 
and corruption, NGO leaders noted.  Teng Seak, Country 
Director for the World Wildlife Fund, noted that ministries 
often have difficulty coordinating their work and that 
decentralization efforts raise doubts about commune councils' 
ability to assess and respond to environmental concerns. 
Michelle Owen of Wild Aid noted that sub-decrees (prakas) 
implementing the Forestry Law were supposed to be issued four 
years ago, but have been delayed due to bureaucratic 
in-fighting.  As a result, there is no official Cambodian 
government list of protected species, making prosecution of 
wildlife trafficking offenses difficult.  Finally, economic 
growth often takes precedence over environmental concerns. 
Environmental impact assessments for economic development 
projects are often completely skipped, environmental leaders 
noted, or when completed are done so poorly as to be useless. 
 
 
¶8.  (SBU)  It is often difficult to determine if government 
failings are due to government inefficiency or Cambodia's 
endemic corruption.  NGO leaders cited several examples, 
including conservation efforts of dubious value, successful 
environmental programs being transferred to other government 
bodies with no explanation, and failure to respond to NGO 
requests for information, which suggest government ineptitude 
at best and corruption at worst. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶9.  (SBU)  Environmental concerns in Cambodia often take a 
back seat to political and economic issues more pressing to 
foreign donors and international organizations.  In reality, 
however, environmental issues are inextricably linked with 
corruption, an inadequate judiciary, and rural poverty which 
top many international agendas.  Wildlife trafficking, land 
concessions, illegal logging, and land speculation enrich the 
already wealthy and powerful while further marginalizing the 
poor.  Improving environmental protection, strengthening rule 
of law, and alleviating poverty should all be seen as part of 
a "virtuous circle" where improvements in one area help 
facilitate improvements in the others. 
STORELLA